UAB Blazers give Tulane Green Wave its sixth consecutive loss

Michael DeMocker, The Times-PicayuneUAB defensive back Matt Taylor scores on a fourth-quarter interception in the Blazers' victory over Tulane.

Even being favored on Senior Day couldn't stop Tulane's downhill spiral Saturday. Alabama-Birmingham became the latest to add to the Green Wave's misery, winning 41-24 in a virtually empty Superdome.

For those still counting, that's six consecutive defeats for a team whose season had such a promising start. Tulane (2-8, 1-5 Conference USA) must win one of its remaining two games -- at Tulsa on Saturday or at Memphis on Nov. 29 -- to avoid tying the school record for losses in a season.

"I apologize for sounding like a broken record, " Tulane Coach Bob Toledo said. "But we're beat up, banged up and not a very good football team right now."

No, they're not.

UAB (3-7, 2-4) ripped Tulane's once stellar defense for 249 yards in the first half, converted two interceptions into touchdowns in the second half and thwarted a fake punt early in the fourth quarter when the game was very much on the line.

That came with Tulane trailing 31-24 and in position to tie the score after Justin Adams caused a fumble and Charles Harris recovered it at the Blazers' 45.

But two runs by J.T. McDonald netted a loss of 1 yard, and Kevin Moore's third-down pass went off Alan Mitchell's hands.

The Wave then lined up to punt, but instead of kicking, Ross Thevenot took off straight ahead and was brought down after gaining 2 yards, nine short of a first down.

UAB then drove for a field goal to go up by 10 points. The Blazers sealed the victory on the next series when Matt Taylor intercepted Moore's fouth-and-10 pass from the Wave 29 and returned it 36 yards for the game's final score.

"I was trying to make a play because I didn't think we were going to stop them anymore. They'd been giving us the opportunity to do something with their punt coverage the whole game, but obviously that time it didn't work."

Toledo said his team's confidence is shaken.

"The defense doesn't have confidence that the offense is going to score, " he said. "Then the offense doesn't think the defense is going to stop them. We've got problems, and that's what's frustrating."

But Moore disagreed with his coach -- at least about the offense having confidence in the defense and vice-versa.

"I have total confidence in our defense, " he said. "They've been making plays all year, and they're a great group of guys.

"We're a team, and we'll never start thinking 'They're doing that to them, ' instead of 'They're doing that to us.' You start doing that, and you lose that team aura."

There were some bright spots for the Wave on Saturday.

Thevenot, much maligned for his trouble making field goals, kicked a career-long 50-yarder.

Redshirt freshman J.T. McDonald, who had only four touches in his career coming into the game, scored all three of Tulane's touchdowns -- on a 3-yard run in the first quarter when he kept his legs churning in the pile to get across the goal line, on a 27-yard swing pass from Moore shortly after gaining 38 yards on virtually the same play, and on a 13-yard run in the third quarter in which he displayed a nifty inside-out cut to break into the open.

And Moore, who likely would have lost his starting job had not Joe Kemp gotten a season-ending broken collarbone last week against Houston, passed as well as he has since the losing streak started, although his 15 completions in 30 attempts for 235 yards with three interceptions probably doesn't reflect that fact because of at least five drops.

"I did feel better today, " Moore said. "We made some plays early on we haven't been making, and that gave us a little spark. We had some drops, but sometimes the reason for that is because I didn't put the ball in a better spot. You've got to give UAB credit, too. The bottom line is that I'm the quarterback, and we lost 41-24."

But most of the blame for Saturday's defeat would lie with a Tulane defense that until giving up 693 yards to Houston was still leading Conference USA in total defense.

The Wave was unable to contain UAB quarterback Joe Webb, who rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns and completed 15 of 21 passes for 154 yards.

Tulane had no sacks and only one tackle for a loss.

"We've got to take a good, hard look at our defense, " Toledo said. "I know we're worn down a little bit, but we're out of position a lot, and we lose contain and miss a lot of tackles."

Junior safety Corey Sonnier was at a loss for the Wave's defensive woes.